Strainer for oil or water wells.



STRAINER FOR OIL OR WATER WELL-S.

APPLICATION mum $313.5, 1904.

12 .5. i 7 52 220565." I I s w'" .flw .w'lu w min 57 144,110).-

- I bi NC. 787,912. Patented April 25, 1905.

UNTTED STATES PATENT @FFTGE.

FRED I. (IIQ'ITY. OF JENNINGS, LOUISIANA, ASSIUNOR- OF ONE-FOURTH TO WILLIAM H. ROWBOTHAM, OF JENNINGS, LOUISIANA.

STRAINER FOR OlL OR WATER WELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,912, dated April 25, 1905.

A lication fil d February 5, 1904. Serial No. 192,091.

To 1'71 out if may concern:

Be it known that I, Faun I. (in'r'rr, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Jennings, in the parish of Calcasicu and State cross-section in Fig. 3 upon an enlarged scale,

5 of Louisiana, have invented certain new and where it will be seen it has two parallel flat wire overlying and partially closing the per- 5 l useful Improvements in Strainers for Oil or surfaces at topand bottom and two curvedsurforations 1/. The \vire'of which this straining or filtering device is made is shown in \YateHYclls, of which the following is a specifaces at the sides. The upper flat surface of lication. the wire consists of a series of depressions l1, )Iyinvmition relates to certain new and useseparated from each other by the points 6,

IO ful improvements in strainers for oil and wawhich are approximately the full original size ter wells; and its object is to produce a device i of the wire from which this particular-shaped of this class which shall have certain advanstrainer-wire is prepared. The lower surface fages,\vhiehwillappearmorefullyandatlarge of the wire on the pipe is perfectly plain. in the course of this specification. The wire is prepared from ordinary drawn s To this end myinvention consistsin certain wire circular in cross-section by passing it novel features of construction, which are between rolls, one of said rolls being plain 5 clearly illustrated in the accompanying draw and the other being provided with a plurality ings and described in this specification. of longitudinally-extending scores or grooves In the aforesaiddrawings, Figurelisaside at short intervals. In this way the round 20 elevation of a piece of the strainer, a portion wire is provided with two flat surfaces, one

of the wire covering being omitted to show of which has a series of depressions. as above 7 the perforated pipe underneath. Fig. 2 is a described. transverse section in the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. In forming my improved strainer or screen Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section in the line 3 3 one end of the wire is secured to the pipe A 5 of Fig. I upona greatly enlarged scale. Fig. and the wire is then wound around it with t is an elevation similar to Fig. l, but on a one of its curved faces in contact with the much larger scale, two of the turns of wire pipe and its plain surfaces at right angles to being shown in section; and Fig. 5 is a perthe axis of the pipe. Each coil of wire in spective view of a piece of wire from which winding is pressed firmly against the preced- 3 my improved strainer is constructed. ing coil, so that when complete it is impossi- Iteferring to the drawings, A is a piece of ble for the coils to slip along longitudinally pipe of the ordinary form, which is provided on the pipe so as to make wide spaces bewith a plurality of perforations (I, through tween them. \Vhen sufficient wire has been which the fluid can pass. In practice the pipe i wound around the pipe to cover all of the peris placed in the ground after the manner of 'forations, the end is secured to the pipe by the tube of the ordinary oil or water well, and any suitable means as, for instance, by sol- 5 the fiuid flows or pereolatesin through the perdering or brazing it thereto. In this way a 'forations I! from the earth, which lies immcstrainer is made comprising a perforated diately in contact with the tube. In order to pipe upon which a plurality of turns of wire 4 prevent the inflowing fluid from carrying in are wound closely together, each turn pressdirt and sand, it is necessary to provide a suiting against the adjacent ones and having their 9 able filtering or straining device which will curved surfaces on theoutside and against the arrest the movement of the sand and foreign pipe. matter before it enters the pipe and still will I'Ieretofore strainers for theabove purpose 45 not interfere to any serious extent with the have been made by simply winding coils of passage of fluids, such as oil, water, or gas. wire around a perforated pipe, the said coils My improved device for accomplishing this being wound a short distance apart, so as to purpose consists of a coil of flexible wire B, leave a space between them through which which surrounds the pipe, the turns of the fluids may pass. In some cases the wire of the coils is mutilated at infrequent points by throwing up a bur or chip which extends outwardly and meets the wire of the adjacent coil, and thereby tends to prevent said coils from slipping out of place. There are many objections to strainers of this kind, the principal one being the practical impossibility of securing accurate construction, so that the spaces between the coils are of uniform width. In my improved strainer, however, in which the coils are pressed firmly together and in which the openings through which the fluid passes are formed by depressions which are frequently sunk into the body of the wire during the process of winding by accurately-constructed rolls, it is evident that uniformity in the width of the said openings is attained, as

well as rigidity of the entire coiled covering on the perforated pipe, because of their being wound so closely together.

The operation of this device will be readily apparent. Any sand and foreign matter will strike against the wire and will be by it prevented from entering the pipe, while oil or other fluids willbe free to pass through the openings formed by the depressions in the coils.

I am aware that strainers for wells have been made composed of perforated pipe surrounded by coils of round wire having depressions or notches at right angles to the axis of the pipe, and I am also aware that strainers have been made from perforated pipe with squared wire having a flat surface in contact with the pipe. I believe, however, it is novel to construct a strainer, as set forth, with a wire having curved surfaces in contact with the pipe and flat surfaces at right angles to the axis of the pipe, one of said surfaces having lugs which contact with the other surface of the next succeeding turns of the wire. This structure has certain advantages over those shown in the references in that it is much cheaper and easier to construct than a structure composed of wire with a flat surface in contact with the pipe, and each turn of wire is prevented from twisting with reference to the pipe by the contacting of the lugs upon it with the flat surface of the turn on one side and by the contacting of its fiat surface with the lugs on the opposite side. This peculiar manner of alining the wires of the strainer is, I believe, novel and forms the essential feature of my invention.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details of this construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not, therefore, desire to limit myself to the specific form herein set forth.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a suitably-perforated pipe, of a coil of wire surrounding said pipe and overlying said perforations, the wire com posing said coil having a plain surface on one side, and a series of depressions on the opposite side, the plain surface lying approximately at right angles to the axis of the pipe, and two curved surfaces. one of which contacts with the wall of the pipe.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a suitably-perforated pipe, of a coil of wire surrounding said pipe and overlying said perforations, the wire composing said coil having two flat surfaces, one of which is plain and the other being composed of a series of closely-spaced flat-bottomed depressions sunk into the wire, the said two surfaces being approximately at right angles to the axis of the pipe, and two curved surfaces, one of which contacts with the wall of the pipe.

In witness whereof I have signed the above application for Letters Patent, at Jennings, in the parish of Calcasieu and State of Louisiana, this 30th day of January, A. D. 190 i.

FRED I. GETTY.

Witnesses:

E. S. HEMPsTEAD, IV. C. FALLS. 

